


All Hallows' Eve

by AlyssaPeverell



Series: Erik and Charles' Pensieve [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Established Relationship, F/M, Gen, Halloween, M/M, Party, Room of Requirement Shenanigans, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-25
Updated: 2016-10-25
Packaged: 2018-08-23 13:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8329885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssaPeverell/pseuds/AlyssaPeverell
Summary: Erik and Charles celebrate Halloween in the Room of Requirement with their friends.





	

In addition to the candles (black and orange instead of the usual white), there were seventy-five Jack-O-Lanterns floating over the Head table and the four House tables. The Great Hall was also filled with over a thousand live bats and the five tables had cauldrons full of apples and giant lollipops sitting alongside the sumptuous dinner the house-elves had provided.

Emma was just serving herself a piece of shepherd's pie when Erik and Charles slid onto the bench beside her, joining the rest of their friends at the Slytherin table.

"You guys almost missed dinner," Sebastian pointed out.

"You should get some shepherd's pie before it's gone," Sean advised, getting a second serving for himself.

The couple followed Sean's advice just in time; dinner disappeared right after Charles and Erik loaded up their plates and was replaced by a delicious array of Halloween desserts. As well as the cauldronfuls of apples and lollipops, the tables were now laden carrot cakes, pumpkin and caramel apple pies, pumpkin tartlets, and caramel apple tarts. Helping herself to some caramel apple tart, Emma slyly added, "Hopefully you finish dinner so you can eat dessert before the meal is over. Although it seems like you two already had dessert so maybe you'll skip the pie."

As a blush spread over Charles' cheeks, Erik changed the subject by asking the others when they wanted to go to the Room of Requirement for their Halloween party.

"Straight from here?" Raven suggested.

"Fifteen minutes after dinner," Sean countered. "I need to go down to the common room to get something."

"What do you need to get?" Darwin asked.

"You guys will see when we get there," Alex answered for Sean.

"That doesn't sound good," Moira predicted.

"It's a good surprise," Sean promised, pressing a kiss to the Gryffindor's cheek.

"We'll believe that when we see it," Charles interjected. "Remember what happened the last time you two thought you had a good idea?" The group gave a collective shudder as they recalled the last incident, which involved Sean, Alex, and several Zonko's products.

"Don't worry. Tonight won't require a trip to the Infirmary." Alex had intended to reassure his friends, but, from their dubious expressions, his statement did not appear to have had the desired effect.

"Okay. Sean and Alex will arrive a few minutes late. Is everyone else going straight there after dinner?" After receiving nods and a chorus of 'yes'es, Erik took a sip of pumpkin juice and Charles picked out a pumpkin tartlet, serving Erik a slice of caramel apple pie and getting an appreciative smile in return.

*~*~*~*~*~*

After everyone finished eating, they left the Slytherin table and split up on the marble staircase, Sean and Alex heading downstairs to the Hufflepuff common room and the remaining eight going up to the seventh floor and the Room of Requirement.

Charles was the one who paced three times in the corridor and when they entered the Room, they found a space slightly bigger than the Gryffindor common room. There was a blazing fire in a fireplace along the same wall as the door with a long couch and several armchairs positioned in front of it, more armchairs tucked into the opposite corner with a small table topped by a wizard's chess set, and a long table in the back of the room that held a variety of desserts and small sandwiches, in case anyone wanted more food. There were also Halloween decorations; the Room of Requirement had provided more Jack-o'-Lanterns, there were bats flying around the room, and there were even giant cobwebs hanging in every corner of the room.

Hank and Darwin picked a spot on the floor near the fireplace and started a round of gobstones so Charles didn't feel bad about heading straight to the corner that held the chess set and having a match with Erik. Moira, Raven, Emma, and Sebastian went to the back of the room and poured themselves some pumpkin juice before they returned to the space in front of the fireplace, settled down on the sofa, and claimed a few of the armchairs. By the time Alex and Sean joined them in the Room of Requirement with a couple barrels of butterbeer, Erik and Charles were about halfway through their game.

Charles had just called out a move (Knight to E5) when he and Erik heard a whoop from Raven and Darwin. They looked over to see Sean and Alex each carrying a cask of butterbeer over to the back table to join the food and other drinks. The others crowded around and everyone grabbed one of the mugs that had appeared next to the new beverage as soon as it had been set down, courtesy of the Room. They took turns pouring themselves some butterbeer before returning to the other side of the room and claiming seats on the sofa and in chairs while Alex and Sean opened a box that had floated into the Room of Requirement behind them and settled itself on the table.

Sean and Alex removed a variety of Zonko's and Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes items from within the box, among them a Robot Lilliput, a bubble machine, several Aviatomobiles, a Tiny Twister, a Weasleys' Snowstorm, some Otters Fizzy Orange Juice, a handful of Reusable Hangmen, and Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-Bangs. The Tiny Twister and Weasleys' Snowstorm were placed up on the mantel while the Aviatomobiles were released so they could fly around the room, dodging the bats as a few cars raced, seeing which one could complete a lap around the room first. The bubble machine was put in the corner and, with a tap of Alex's wand, it started to produce pink bubbles of varying sizes. Darwin created a shielded area near where they had gathered so they could watch the fireworks display that Sebastian and Erik were helping Alex and Sean to set up.

When they were all ready, the ten friends stepped outside of the protected area that would contain the fireworks and watched as they went off. The show started with Exploding Whizz Poppers, followed by Diabolic Dare Devils, Feathery Flamingo Flame Fuzzers, Thestral Thrashers, Silver Sparkling Snakes, a Thor's Thunder Cracker that shook the room, and it was concluded with Dragon Fire. They all cheered and, when the smoke cleared, Darwin lifted the shield he had erected and humans, bats, and cars all returned to their previous places.

Charles and Erik grabbed one Reusable Hangman, Hank and Raven took another, Alex and Darwin carried theirs over to the nearest corner seat, Sean and Moira set theirs up directly in front of the fire, and Emma and Sebastian snagged the last one and returned to the couch to play.

Erik and Charles settled themselves on the floor next to the table, putting the green game on the edge of the table, the figure of Dolores Umbridge on the bottom step. Erik nudged it towards Charles, telling him, "You first."

"Okay," Charles said, smiling.

Turning the Reusable Hangman so it faced him fully, he typed out his word before pushing it back into place and waiting for Erik to guess his first letter. Erik put down his butterbeer, gave Charles a considering look, and hit the 'E' key. The second and fourth spaces spun to reveal two 'E's in the eight letter word. He hit the 'R' next, of which there was one, before choosing an incorrect letter. With a press of the 'G', Dolores Umbridge ascended to the next step. Giving a thoughtful hum, Erik hesitated a moment before selecting the 'N' key. With a small smile, Erik depressed the 'I' button before picking the 'S', 'T', and 'Y' keys in quick succession.

Charles gave Erik a congratulatory kiss. "Nicely done, darling. You solved that quickly."

"There are some areas in which it is beneficial to be fast."

"You do accomplish things quickly when necessary," Charles agreed before leaning in and adding, "Although you know how to take your time in areas that require it as well."

"Only with you." Erik moved his head down and kissed Charles. When they broke apart several long moments later, Charles licked his lips and commented, "Mmm. The butterbeer is good."

Giving Charles a playful push, Erik threatened, "I already had my word picked out, but maybe I'll change it now." Despite his words, Erik grabbed the Reusable Hangman, positioning it away from Charles and inputting his original word as, in the background, he heard Raven tell Hank, "Don't choose complicated scientific terms that I'll never be able to figure out". Darwin was having more luck, calling out Alex's choice of 'Pinball Machine' as Charles began to consider their own game. "Eight letters," Charles murmured.

"What was that?" Erik asked.

"Nothing," Charles said, selecting the 'R' as his first letter. When his choice resulted in Umbridge moving from her reset position on the first step up onto the second stair, Charles frowned and decided to try a vowel next. This proved to be a good idea as Erik's word had two 'I's. Given the placement of the second 'I', Charles went for the 'N' next, followed by the 'G'. Trying to ignore the conversation about fish that followed Moira identifying Sean's use of 'Clownfish', Charles thought about the likely words Erik would use and settled on the letter 'E'. With this move, Charles was certain he knew what word Erik had chosen, and his certainty paid off when he hit the 'L' and 'B' keys and Umbridge remained on the second step.

"Liar," Charles accused with a laugh. "You said you were going to change your word."

"I know, but I was just teasing. I could never resist using that word."

"I guess I shouldn't use 'Darling' next. Give me a minute to think of something that won't be obvious to you."

"You just want to have time to drink your butterbeer since you know I'll guess your word right away and you'll have to dedicate all of your concentration to solving mine."

"I was going to say 'And kiss you' before you finished your sentence, but now I think I'll just enjoy my butterbeer."

"I take it back. I'll never be able to guess your word and you'll solve mine so quickly it will be like you read my mind."

"I know you're only saying that so I'll kiss you, but I'll take it."

Charles gave in and kissed Erik. He pulled back after a moment and picked up his butterbeer.

"What was that?" Erik asked.

"A kiss. You get your kiss and I get my butterbeer."

"A kiss," Erik repeated. " _This_ is a kiss." Erik claimed Charles' lips to show him what he thought a kiss should be, and when they broke apart minutes later, they were both panting for breath.

"You're right," Charles conceded. "That was definitely a better kiss."

Erik smirked smugly, but before he could respond, Sebastian stood up and said, "How about we all play together as a group now? We can project the blank spaces above the fireplace. Just come over when you finish with your current game."

The others wanted to do a single large game as well, and since Erik and Charles had not started a new round yet, they grabbed their drinks and sat on the sofa, Erik in the corner and Charles practically in his lap.

"I'll pick the first word," Moira said. "We'll start off easy, with something related to the holiday."

Moira typed a word into one of the Reusable Hangmen, tapped the top of it with her wand, and fifteen blank spaces (one an actual space) appeared on the wall above the fireplace.

"A," Emma called out.

Darwin followed with an 'E'.

Waiting a moment for the letters to appear on the wall, Sebastian then called out 'P'.

Erik added the 'Y' while Alex contributed the two 'H's.

Charles chose the 'N' and Sean guessed 'L'.

Raven and Hank completed the puzzle; Raven called out the 'O' and Hank followed her with the 'W'.

Moira read out the phrase she had selected once it was solved:

"Happy Halloween!"

**Author's Note:**

> Details of the Great Hall's Halloween decorations taken from both the book and movie versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: "A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter" (Ch. 10).


End file.
